Sage Vantage fly rod, fast?

[luckydude]

I recently bought a Sage Vantage 8wt and I'm trying to get some line for
it. I don't know if it wants to be overlined but I suspect so, I've been
casting a 350gr striper line for practice and it handles that pretty well;
that's a 9wt line (I think, that's what Bill said).

Were those rods considered fast like today's rods are? As in over line them?

I've got a Vantage 3wt that is true to line size, it wants a 3wt. But the 8wt (and I've
got a 9wt coming) are new to me.

I want to do some top water bass fishing, so what line?

Thanks!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Top water for a large mouth bass seems like a #7 or #8 size rod would be best with a Sage Bass line or a Rio OBS floater.

I would put the Striper 350 on the 9 rod.

Top water for Stripers would be that 9 weight though.....with an OBS floater.



**Andy Guibord @ Kiene's is one of the top people I trust to recommend the right fly lines for every rod size for all types of fishing, world wide.

.

[luckydude]

Thanks Bill. If I get up that way I'll talk to Andy. I don't suppose there is an Andy clone in the the South Bay or Santa Cruz area? It's a hoof for me to get up there

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You can call him at the shop.....he usually works on the weekends and guides during the week.

[luckydude]

Will do.

BTW, I'm getting the hang of that striper line. I've never cast anything like that, 3-5wt was my jam. The striper line,
like you said, changes your casting dramatically. What I'm finding working for me is about 30-35 feet of line out,
one back cast, haul and flip it on the forward cast and shoot as much as you can. I think I'm at about 75-80 feet after
a few days of practicing.

Hauling on the forward stroke is new to me, I taught myself to cast from a 1950's book that taught me to haul on the
back cast, move your hand backwards as the line goes backwards, then do sort of a fake haul on the forward cast by
punching your hand forward. For 3-6wt it works great for me, I have really really good loop control, I can make loops
that are only a foot high and not have the upper/lower line touch/tangle. For as weird as that style is, I've got it dialed
in.

Hauling on the forward stroke has messed up my loop control like crazy. I'd probably benefit from some lessons to
unlearn my weirdness. I will say that when I get it right, holy smoke, it eats up all the line. I dunno how long that
RIO striper line is but I'm casting all of it minus about 6-8 turns on a Ross Evolution 3.5.

Which brings me to a different question. I love the Ross Evolution (not the lt or r, the originals) but someone on this
forum said be careful, their drag isn't good enough for big fish. Am I misguided to think I could use that reel with
a 9wt for stripers?

Thanks for all the advice!